Legal Action
On 29 June Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) announced that it won a long-running trademark and trade dress infringement lawsuit against Brazilian retread company New Tyre Remoldadora De Pneus (New Tyre), in the São Paulo Court of Appeals.
Goodyear management has been convicted by the Amiens court for the unfair dismissal of 832 of its former employees. The manufacturer’s factory in Amiens Nord, France, which specialised in the production of agricultural tyres, closed in January 2014. The closure brought to an end a six-year stalemate between staff and management, with the loss of 1,143 jobs. The Thursday May 28 judgement saw the court ask for the provisional execution of the sentence, as requested by the employee’s lawyer, Fiodor Rilov. The amount of damages to be paid is not yet available. Goodyear management has indicated that it has taken note of the ruling, adding that it reserves “the right to appeal.”
Following initial claims earlier this year, a group of former shareholders and directors of retreader and commercial vehicle tyre supplier Vaculug have denied that financial accounts were manipulated ahead of its sale to Grantham Capital and launched their own legal action against the new owner.
On 14 February 2020, Schrader was found to have contributed to and induced infringement of Wasica Finance GmbH and BlueArc Finance AG’s 524 patent. The patent relates to tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) technology. As a result, the claimants were awarded US$31.2 million in royalty damages.
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, according to Oscar Wilde. But businesses don’t tend to be so charitable in their interpretation of such actions. Indeed, industrial counterfeiting, copyright breaches and general contempt for intellectual property are all-too common. The most recent example of copyright dispute in the tyre industry saw one of the world’s largest and longest established tyremakers pitted against a relative unknown.
On 3 December 2019, Manchester Crown Court cleared five current and past directors and managers of Klarius Products Ltd of charges of selling non-typed approved catalytic converters. Following the news of the Klarius directors’ acquittal, Tyres & Accessories got in touch in order to find out the inside line of what happened in and around the case.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency has reported the indictment of Cho Hyun-bum, chief executive of tyre maker Hankook Tire & Technology. According to Yonhap, prosecutors said yesterday that Cho was indicted for accepting bribes and embezzling corporate funds.
Manchester Crown Court cleared five current and past directors and managers of Klarius Products Ltd of charges of selling non-typed approved catalytic converters on 3 December. The case, which was brought by the DVSA, had alleged that between 01/02/2013 and 30/08/2015 the business of Klarius Products Ltd, carried on for fraudulent purposes, the marketing, distribution and sale of counterfeit and non-type approved catalytic converters.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has won a landmark prosecution case against a Hampshire aftermarket emission control parts manufacturer for supplying products which fail to meet the required environmental standards.
The case against European Exhaust and Catalyst Ltd, which took place at Portsmouth Magistrates Court and concluded on Monday 28 October, resulted in a criminal conviction for the company and a £3,000 fine.
A Chinese court has ruled in favour of Bridgestone Corporation in its patent infringement lawsuit against Chinese tyre manufacturers Guangzhou South China Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. and Wanli Tire Co., Ltd. (Wanli Tire).
Following its 5 December 2018 statement saying the association would take action against non-member misappropriation of the association’s name, the NTDA has indeed been taking action against a number of UK tyre retailers falsely claiming to be members of the association.
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